The World Premiere of 'Tasha

Screen Shot 2023-02-02 at 2.09.16 PM.png

‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Fairfax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland's Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. "Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying," Brooks said of the script's genesis in 2015.

Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Dates and Times

Friday, 2/24 @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)*

Saturday, 2/25 @ 7:30pm*

Sunday, 2/26 @ 2pm*

Thursday, 3/2 @ 7:30pm

Friday, 3/3 @ 7:30pm

Saturday, 3/4 @ 7:30pm*

Sunday, 3/5 @ 2pm

Thursday, 3/9 @ 7:30pm

Friday, 3/10 @ 7:30pm

Saturday, 3/11 @ 7:30pm*

Sunday, 3/12 @ 2pm*

Thursday, 3/16 @ 7:30pm

Friday, 3/17 @ 7:30pm

Saturday, 3/18 @ 7:30pm (Closing Night)*

*Healing services available during and after this performance of 'Tasha

Join us on opening and closing night for a post-show conversation featuring playwright Cat Brooks and director Dr. Ayodele Nzinga.

All Performances at:
Z Below
470 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Press Inquiries: Liam Passmore
liam (at) shaveandahaircut (dot) biz ,
415-218-1544

Press Release Document

'Tasha Team

Cat Brooks, Playwright

Actor, playwright, poet, political activist. . . the multitalented Cat Brooks began her theater career at the age of 8 and later obtained her B.A. in theater with an emphasis on classical works during which time she also studied at the Royal National Theater Studio in London. Cat has performed across the world including playing Lady Macbeth at the Edinburgh Theater Festival in Scotland. In July 2016, Cat starred in 3GT’s production of Robin Bradford’s LOW HANGING FRUIT, for which she received a BATCC Best Actress nomination.

Cat was named a 3GT Playwright in 2017 and Program Director of 3GT Investigates in 2020. Her one-woman show, ‘Tasha, based on the in-custody death of Natasha McKenna in Fairfax County, VA, was selected as a 2017-2018 Salon Series Finalist and the winner of the 2018 Festival Prize. 3GT originally planned to produce the world premier of ‘Tasha at Z Below in July 2020.

Brooks co-founded the Anti Police-Terror Project and is the Executive Director of The Justice Teams Network. Both organizations support grassroots groups and system impacted individuals/families across California working to reduce the community trauma and harm of state violence. She is the co-host of KPFA’s Law & Disorder morning radio show and a regular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Oakland with her daughter.

Screen Shot 2023-01-23 at 7.52_edited.png

Ayodele Nzinga, Director and Dramaturg

Ayodele Nzinga, MFA, Ph.D. is a multi-hyphenated artist; a brilliant actress, producing director, playwright, poet, dramaturg, performance consultant, educator, and community advocate. She is the director of the Lower Bottom Playaz, Inc., Oakland's oldest North American African Theater Company and founder of Lower Bottom Playaz Summer Theater Day Camp. She is co-founder of Janga’s House, a Black Women Arts collective, and a founding member of BlacSpace Collective. She is the Executive Director of the Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation, of Oakland, (BAMBD CDC); and founder and producer of BAMBDFEST International Biennial, a month-long arts and cultural festival animating the Black Arts Movement Business District in Oakland CA.

Nzinga holds an MFA in Writing and Consciousness; a Ph.D. in Transformative Education & Change; is a Cal-Shakes Artist Investigator Alumni; a San Francisco Foundation Arts Leadership Fellow; a member of the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame; recognized by Theater Bay Area as one of the 40 faces in the Bay that changed the face of theater in the Bay Area; is recognized by the August Wilson House as the only director in the world to direct the complete August Wilson American Century Cycle in chronological order; a YBCA 10 Fellow, a BIPOC Circle Fellow and a VOICES Community Journalism Fellow. Nzinga is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Oakland CA.

Jeunée Simon*, Actor playing Tasha

JEUNÉE SIMON (she/her) is an actor, director, and intimacy coordinator. Recent acting credits include: Intimate Apparel (Lorraine Hansberry Theatre), Stoop Stories (Aurora Theatre Company), La Ronde (Cutting Ball Theater), Men On Boats u/s (American Conservatory Theater), the ripple, the wave that carried me home u/s (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) among others. Simon is a proud recipient of the 2017 RHE Artistic Fellowship and a 2019 Directing Apprentice with PlayGround.

*Member, Actors’ Equity Association

Reg Clay, Stage Manager

Reginald Clay is a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Reg has staged managed with several groups in the Bay Area (Plethos Productions, Ray of Light Theatre, Eastenders Repertory Company, Off Broadway West), and when he isn't stage managing, he's acting, writing plays and hosting The Yay, a Bay Area Theatre Podcast.

Stephanie Johnson, Lighting Designer

Stephanie Anne Johnson is very excited to work with Cat Brook’s and Dr. Nzinga again for the fourth time. She is a second-generation theatre worker whose mother Virginia Greene worked with The American Negro Theatre in the late 1940s.

Locally, Johnson has worked with American Conservatory Theatre, Afro Solo, Oakland Theatre Project, TheatreFirst, African American Shakespeare, Shotgun Players, Marin Theatre Company, S.F. Playhouse, Aurora Theatre and many others in a career that spans over 47 years. She has designed in India, Holland, Belgium, Paris, Italy, and Canada. Dr. Johnson is a professor at CSU, Monterey Bay.

Photo by Joan Osanto

Jules Indelicato, Sound Designer

Jules Indelicato is a musician and sound designer based in San Francisco, CA. In addition to being a familiar face in the Bay Area music scene, Jules is an empathic grassroots community organizer who is deeply committed to driving positive change by advocating for the people and places working to make our communities more inclusive, equitable, and magical.

Elijah Collins, Projection Designer

Elijah (BlckSpkz) Collins is a multi-hyphenate content creator from the Bay Area. Producing a wide range of mediums and formats - from podcasts to filming live events and traveling the world with a 35 mm camera in hand. He's always gotten a kick out of being a creative swiss army knife, which brought him to debut his talents with 3Girls Theatre.

Mitchell Ost, Set Designer

Mitchell Ost is an educator and designer specializing in lighting, scenery, and projections. He is very excited to be making his 3Girls Theatre debut. A recent transplant to the Bay Area, he spent many years designing in New York City and all over the globe. He now teaches theatre design and technology at The College Preparatory School in Oakland. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Zoe Chien, Associate Producer

Zoe Chien is an actor and producer with a BFA in Theater from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she trained at The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, Playwrights Horizons Theater School, and the Stonestreet Studios for Television and Film. Her work includes theatre, film, television, commercial, voiceover, and print. She is Program Coordinator at 3Girls Theatre.

Zach Kopciak, Producer

Zach Kopciak is a producer, dramaturg, performer, director, and educator specializing in supporting underrepresented artists in non-traditional performance contexts. They received their MFA in Devised and Collaborative Theatre from the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and worked with companies across the United States and England. Kopciak is Managing Director of Production and Development at 3Girls Theatre.

'Tasha Production Team

Liam Passmore ... Publicist

Deb Harrison ... Graphic Designer

Brendan Yungert ... Carpenter

Axel Hanley ... Carpenter/Painter

Leja Ejury ... Carpenter/Painter

Ashley Munday ... Master Electrician

Shy Baniani ... Electrician

Nikola Capp ... Electrician

Elle Ghini ... Electrician

Logan Vincent ... Electrician

Daniel Hall ... House Tech

Hadiza Mohammed ... Healer

Nekia Wright ... Healer

The Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. We support families surviving police terror in their fight for justice, documenting police abuses and connecting impacted families and community members with resources, legal referrals, and opportunities for healing. APTP began as a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee.

Website: https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/

Articles and Reviews of 'Tasha

“’TASHA” TACKLES RAW RACISM—AT 3GIRLS

Patricia L. Morin

Theatrius

RADIO- KPFA Interview with Tina D'Elia and Juenee Simon

Interviewer: Cat Brooks

KPFA Radio

Riveting new S.F. play ”Tasha’ shines spotlight on police killings

Sam Hurwitt

The Mercury News

‘Out of a dream’: Cat Brooks was guided by Natasha McKenna to tell slain woman’s story

Lou Fancher

48 Hills

The Development of 'Tasha at 3GT

The script for ‘Tasha is based on years of research and rewrites by playwright Cat Brooks, with the help of her community, including longtime creative partner and ‘Tasha dramaturg and director, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying.” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015. In 2017-2018, Brooks participated in several 3GT script development programs, in which community members offered their thoughts on the impact of playwrights’ work. In 2019, 3GT sent Brooks and Nzinga on a trip to Virginiato speak with some of those close to Natasha and the circumstances surrounding her death. It felt, in Brooks’ words, “unprincipled to continue [developing the script] any further without talking to the people most impacted by her death: her family and her community”. These interviews with Natasha’s community, and the insights they gave Brooks and the creative team, were incorporated into the final script.

The much-anticipated world premier has been delayed by the pandemic since 2020. Sadly, the themes explored have only become more relevant as the pandemic accelerates existing trends, including the oppression and marginalization of Black bodies. The world premier will occur at San Francisco’s Z Below in March 2023, after several pandemic postponements beginning in 2020.

Additional Resources

MH First Oakland, a project of Anti Police-Terror Project, is a cutting-edge new model for non-police response to mental health crisis. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/MHFirstOak/

For information on Kimberlé Crenshaw's Say Her Name Campaign, visit

https://www.aapf.org/sayhername

Support 3Girls Theatre

3GT relies on grants to fund many of our programs. The information collected in this anonymous survey allows us to continue receiving grants. To support 3GT, please fill out this SURVEY.

Funders and Sponsors

The World Premiere of 'Tasha

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Dates and Times

All Performances at:
Z Below
470 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Press Inquiries: Liam Passmore
liam (at) shaveandahaircut (dot) biz ,
415-218-1544

Press Release Document

'Tasha Team

'Tasha Production Team

Articles and Reviews of 'Tasha

“’TASHA” TACKLES RAW RACISM—AT 3GIRLS

Patricia L. Morin

RADIO- KPFA Interview with Tina D'Elia and Juenee Simon

Interviewer: Cat Brooks

Riveting new S.F. play ”Tasha’ shines spotlight on police killings

Sam Hurwitt

‘Out of a dream’: Cat Brooks was guided by Natasha McKenna to tell slain woman’s story

Lou Fancher

The Development of 'Tasha at 3GT

Additional Resources

Support 3Girls Theatre

Funders and Sponsors

Donate
Today!

Contact us:
info@3girlstheatre.org 415.891.7941

1034 Kearny St
San Francisco CA 94133

EIN: 45-1296583

© Three Girls Theatre Company 2021 and as credited. All rights reserved.

The World Premiere of 'Tasha

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Dates and Times

All Performances at: Z Below 470 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94110

Press Inquiries: Liam Passmore liam (at) shaveandahaircut (dot) biz , 415-218-1544

Press Release Document

'Tasha Team

'Tasha Production Team

Articles and Reviews of 'Tasha

“’TASHA” TACKLES RAW RACISM—AT 3GIRLS

Patricia L. Morin

RADIO- KPFA Interview with Tina D'Elia and Juenee Simon

Interviewer: Cat Brooks

Riveting new S.F. play ”Tasha’ shines spotlight on police killings

Sam Hurwitt

‘Out of a dream’: Cat Brooks was guided by Natasha McKenna to tell slain woman’s story

Lou Fancher

The Development of 'Tasha at 3GT

Additional Resources

Support 3Girls Theatre

Funders and Sponsors

Donate Today!

All Performances at:
Z Below
470 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Press Inquiries: Liam Passmore
liam (at) shaveandahaircut (dot) biz ,
415-218-1544

Donate
Today!